Dryden Theatre Recommends: La Ciénaga (2001)

(Lucrecia Martel, Argentina 2001, 103 min.) In northwestern Argentina, a troubled bourgeois family tries to escape the summer heat in their decaying country estate. The story of the family’s daily lives revolves around Mecha (Graciela Borges), the middle-aged proprietor of the estate, and her husband and four teenaged children, as well as Mecha’s younger cousin, Tali (Mercedes Moran), who lives in the nearby town of La Ciénaga (which translates as “the swamp”) with her husband and four young children. The sticky, humid atmosphere imbuing the crumbling estate echoes the family’s troubles as tensions rise and secrets are unveiled. La Ciénaga is the award-winning directorial debut of Lucrecia Martel.